IGAD’s miscalculation of peace in South Sudan

It has become apparent that the eight months old civil war in South Sudan is not yet ending and the suffering of several millions South Sudanese still unresolved.

The supposedly five pages document which IGAD and their Troika allies have developed and tried to impose on the two principal warring parties; President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Dr. Riek Machar Teny, leader of SPLM/A to sign in order to end the ongoing war in the country, was categorically rejected yesterday on 25th August.

This proved that IGAD and its allies have no choice but rather to extend the deadline for six more weeks similar to the previous deadline of sixty days which unfortunately elapsed without any meaningful results.

While the violations of Cessation of Hostilities Agreement signed on 23rd January 2014, between the two warring parties still not respected. Towns like Bentiu, Malakal, Ayod and Nasir were recaptured by the government forces and their UPDF, JEM and SPLA-N allies in April, after the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was concluded and IGAD had done nothing about it to condemn the aggressor.

The unsigned five page’s document, it seems IGAD heads of states of Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia have stubbornly made up their minds to retain President Kiir at all costs to continue heading the Transitional Interim Government of South Sudan with absolute power.

Creations of the post of Prime Minister with two deputies is not a solution but more or less an escalation of the ongoing conflict, believe it or not.

The position vehemently taken by IGAD heads of state to keep President Kiir as President of South Sudan during the proposed Interim Government of National Unity, while at the same time imposing peace in the country by force is directly an insult to twenty thousand innocent Nuer civilians who were summarily massacred in Juba and surrounding areas following the aftermath of fighting on the 15th December 2013 by the same President.

Sadly indeed, IGAD heads of state have miserably failed to address the root causes of the conflict. The whole world including the UN have categorically dismissed the so-called Kiir’s fabricated coup d’état which would have complicated Dr. Riek Machar and his associates.

Funny enough, US Secretary of State Mr. John Kerry has always boasted in front of cameramen and women wherever he goes by honouring President Kiir an elected President who cannot be removed from office before his term is over.

While in US former President Richard Richard Nixon was unceremoniously impeached from office as result of leakages of sensitive documents.

Should the massacres of over twenty thousand unarmed Nuer civilians be less important than leakages of mere documents which later amounted to the removal of President from office?

IGAD should learn from the Somalia’s saga where the same heads of state had hastily dispatched more than 23 thousands soldiers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Burundi and Rwanda in order to quell down Al Shabaab militias who have been labelled by US government as terrorist’s cell in East Africa.

The war in Somalia still raging with heavy casualties on both sides and the solution is nowhere to be found. The American forces with their mighty power of 30,000 US Marines had tried in early 1990s and miserably failed.

The war in South Sudan is more complicated than that of Somalia because President Salva Kiir has murdered one ethnic group the “Nuer” in thousands and IGAD wished to impose him by force to rule the same victims.

This will not work as long as President Kiir remains in power. IGAD should find better and amicable solution if their intention is to resolve the conflict in South Sudan otherwise they will be resisted like in Somalia.

The other concern is the presence of UPDF in South Sudan. There is no way President Yoweri K. Museveni can act as an occupier of our land and at the same time masquerading as peace maker. That will never happen.

Whether the imposed IGAD agreement is signed by the two leaders namely, President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar or not the war in South Sudan will never end as long as President Salva Kiir remains in power under protection of IGAD and their troika’s paymasters.

Justice is always denied to those who honestly seek it but crooks are always rewarded. This is what is happening with IGAD mediations in South Sudan conflict.

10 Comments

Your assessment is correct in every way. The IGAD Heads of State have totally escalated the potential for more calamity in South Sudan. Who in his right mind accepts such as worthless document. The communique or enforced peace agenda is another soar eye to the regional group. Their place in history in trying to right the wrong committed by President Kiir has escaped them. Their approach to achieving peace in South Sudan is ripe with self interest. Their aim to keep Kiir in power is to protect their own interest and not that of South Sudanese. What has Kiir done to warrant stay in Power? Nothing by all means. He will be remembered as the first head of state in the 21st century who presided over the killing of his own people in Africa while proclaiming legitimacy.

The IGAD heads of states have actually drawn up this peace agreement to suit the aspiration of Kiir to continue to be in power and consolidate the brutality that we wished was left behind with independence. We will be witnesses to continued blood shed in our nation, for now and until the world stops rewarding killers. I hope not.

Dear Daniel,
It is not IGAD job to impeach President Kiir for alleged lynching of Nuer civilian, that job is for the citizens of RSS. IGAD are trying to hammer a workable solution and replacing Kiir with Reik may not possible as good section of RSS nationals do think that Dr Reik is responsible for the killing of their love ones. Any bad peace deal is far better than any just war because the living person deserve more than the dead one.

while Kiir has admittedly lost credibility to govern South Sudan, Riek is not the answer either. both need to leave South Sudanese alone, for proper healing and reconciliation to take place. both of them have divided us with their belief in tribal supremacy to hang on to, and to ascend to power. none of them can unite us as s. Sudanese.
their strength, surprisingly, is drawn from the ignorance and stupidity of some of us, author of this article included, who believe that they are fighting a just war and that one ‘leader’ is better than the other. that is what is tearing our country apart.
Mr. Joak, Richard Nixon wasn’t shot out of office. Americans didn’t destroy their country because of Mr. Nixon scandals. A civil war wasn’t on horizon in Americans’ minds if democratic tools had failed to impeach Nixon.
the war we are waging against ourselves is senseless, whether it was imposed or a result of a failed coup. the people of who have perished, and the livelihoods destroyed have nothing to do with political power wrangling within the SPLM party, the true cause of this war.

As usual, you have failed to see the stark differences between the political landscape in South Sudan and that in America or any other well developed Western democracies.

In America then none of Nixon’s tribes would die for him because there are no tribes there anyway. In the case of South Sudan, there is dinka Kiir and Nuer Riek who would blindly die to keep their man in power by any means. This is where your analogy of the Nixon’s scenario falls short of a better comparison. Try another analogy.

eastern,
i’m afraid but i think you didn’t understand where Nixon analogy came from. i encourage you to help yourself by rereading the article before any subsequent comment can make sense to you.
good day

All those IGAD LEADERS are STUPID IDIOTS AND GREEDY SELF ISH BETRAYERS bunch of losers.

They have no visions for the people they claimed to be representing or serving in the name of freedom, democracy and justice and shame on all of them.
They think they could full us but not a chance. This is the 21st century they need to come up with better than that.

I would like to quote but I am not sure if I can get it right. Iconic Regae Superstar a freedom fighter late Bob Marley in one of his freedom songs once said;
“Standup, standup, stand-up for your rights; now we see the light, standup for your rights……………. ” you can finish the rest lf the chorus.
I still own this cassette tape and once in a blue moon I honestly do pull it out and dust it clean to play and listen to it, when I am having bad day.

I used to think that president Uhuru Kenyatta was going to transform and bring about some meaningful and sound common sense reasoning in the regions, at first when he get elected I even criticized the British people for pointing fingers at him and wanting to charge him for crime against humanity for the infamous tribal chaotic anarchies that took place in Kenya before his election.
Well I now realized that I was wrong and owe an apology to Britain.
This guy is a shame to Kenya and most of all to his father who was and still is ONE OF THE AFRICAN HEROES, A TRUE LIBERATOR, A PAN AFRICANIST, THE FIRST PRESIDENT of Kenya His Excellency Late Jomo Kenyatta who challenged former colonial power the British Empire to surrender and gave Kenyans their independence.
I lost respect for Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and he deserve no credits and I truly believe he is getting a free ride on the back of his late father’s accomplishments fornathing. Shame on him for defaming that famous and honourable name of Kenyatta family.

It has bee said that ” a friend of a thief is a thief”, and “a friend of a murderer shares the guilt of the murderer”
Well, isn’t that the truth about these “THE THREE AMIGOS” namely Pres. Yuweri Museveni, Pres. Salvatore Kirr Mayardit, and he President Uhuru Kenyatta? These three bloodsuckers are a curse to the East African Nations and to the rest of Africa.
But their evil deeds will go into the history and hopefully the future generations shall learn to correct and change our causes the for a better future.
As always, I say it again. “RESPECT MUST BE EARNED NOT DEMANDED, COMMANDED OR INHERITED”. And these three amigos don’t deserve our respect.
Peace and love.
Eli Wani
SSNLF